I disagree. Along with the victims (not a relative few… a few big cities cover that and more) is the stunting and fear of an entire class of people. Those who feel unfairly brushed with the “inhuman/animal” meme are paying dearly for it, too.
I’m at a loss here, but I’m wondering what violent crime rates were back in the Depression - when so many had almost nothing - and how they’d compare to today’s. Social programs have to have made some kind of difference, otherwise it’s all a matter of changing expectations.
When I said ‘chicken and egg’, I was thinking of this. Socio-economic (and gender) correlates so strongly to violent crime that the only way to accommodate it (if it’s found bothersome) is to claim acknowledgement of it has become, in and of itself, causative.
It might be an interesting discussion but I’ve seen enough of them to know how they usually end. Y’all have fun.
I have to admit this is all very true, and that I downplayed the impact of violent crime, especially as it pertains to the “stunting and fear of an entire class of people.” I thought about what I wrote quite a bit after hitting the “Post Comment” button, and concluded that in service to rhetoric, I’d minimized the impact violent crime has, not just upon the victims and neighborhoods involved, but also upon the country’s overall black population. But who are they that possess the power to wield that broad brush of unfairness so effectively as to make the majority “pay dearly” for the “inhuman/animal” meme? They certainly don’t seem inclined to splash paint on themselves or their fellows when someone among them commits rape, murder, or arm-robbery, when one of their good and wholesome sons cold-bloodedly massacres his classmates, or when a group among them commits such wholesale banking and investment fraud as to almost bring down an entire ecomony.
Speaking of which, I still firmly believe that the collapse of the US economy would have had far broader, and far more devastating social impact than all the violent crime within minority communities throughout the country. I don’t see how it can be argued otherwise. Care to give it a shot?
Of all the chilling moments on the video – and there are a lot of them – one that really struck me is this: Officer handcuffs dying victim, then – what? – renders aid? Checks for pulse? No. He immediately jogs back to retrieve the taser, then casually drops it to the ground near Mr. Scott. In full view of another officer of the law.
To me this little interaction speaks volumes. It demonstrates, first and foremost, a callous disregard and contempt for the human life which is slipping away. But also, it looked to me as if it were automatic, and casual. As if it happens all the time. Apparently, after an officer involved shooting, the very first thing which must be done is CYA. It doesn’t appear as if anyone questioned it at the time. Certainly neither Officer Slager nor any of the other officers bothered to mention in their reports that a crime scene had been tampered with.
Okay, let me see if I’m understanding what you’re saying: You’re positing that the the correlates in violent crime are so overwhelming as to make axiomatic the conclusion that the same are causative? If I’m wrong, please clarify. I still fail to understand, too, where either chickens or eggs factor into this discussion.
Mathmom, I saw that you sent me a PM, but I was unable to fully open it. I don’t know why. Can someone tell me how to access the full content of a PM once I click on the envelope icon at the top-right next to my username?
Click on the envelope icon. It brings up a list of messages you have, maybe just the one, for you, Poetsheart. You’ll see the icon of the person who sent the message. To the right of that, in blue, you’ll see the name, which will look like mathmom in this case. Click on it, and that should bring up the message.
Thanks, Cardinal Fang. I did indeed try clicking on mathmom’s username, but when I did, the entire pop-up box listing my most recent PM disappeared from the screen altogether. In fact, no matter where I clicked within that box, it caused the entire thing to disappear, and nothing appeared in its place. Strange. I’ve been accessing PMs on CC for years (both as a sender and receiver, but this is the first time I’ve not been able to fully open one.
Okay. I just tried it again, and low and behold, it worked this time. What the? Gremlins in the system. User error? What 'ev…
Has the second officers police report been released? If it has does the video show it to also be an inaccurate report? If it was an inaccurate report what should happen to that officer?
I ask because if other officers believe they will face consequences for covering up for bad acts we may start to get a change. Now that you will never know if a video may be produced that contradicts your report even if you were not the bad actor you really need to be truthful in your report.
Many years I drove by Rutgers’ campus on my way to Philadelphia. I got lost and I didn’t want to just ask random people for directions. When I saw a police car, I pulled over to ask him how to get back on the highway. Instead of giving me direction, he started yelling at me about driving on the curb in order to pass other cars and proceeded to gave me a ticket. He was so demeaning I wrote a letter to the chief of police. I didn’t get any response, but when I showed up for my hearing, the policeman was there. He pulled me aside to let me know that he knew I wrote a letter, he knew where I lived and so did his buddies at work, and I should watch my back. Ever since then, I do not trust any police. I told my girls to also not to treat them as friends.
I just saw another incident on TV. A guy (white this time) was escaping from police on a horse. When he was finally stopped, he got off the horse, got down on the ground with his arms behind him. The police went up to him (lying down) and started kicking him, then few more showed up to continue kicking him and beating him. This was all caught by a TV station’s helicopter camera.
poetsheart, I couldn’t agree more about the potential effects of the economic collapse that we dodged in 2008. Ironically, the events of October, 2008, led to the election of the first (half)black president. I read an analogy at the time, to the effect that even a racist doesn’t care if the fireman is black when his house is burning down. Even the most bigoted realized that the minority candidate was a lot smarter than the alternative. The editorial cartoon with the caption “Worst job in America goes to black man” summed it up perfectly.
hayden, that’s an interesting point about the similarities between fraternities and police. I don’t think we have to wonder why the police forces remain predominantly white even in predominantly minority communities. The police don’t have a chant, but I’m sure they have the attitude.
You cannot put all of them together in one sentence “Yet another white cop killing black guy and lying about it”. In the latest case, cop should die for what he is done. He is a mad man, dangerous to the society, not part of it. In the case in Furgeson it was in reverse to that.
In addition, since we are so close to Detroit and I listen to Detroit station while driving to work every morning, I can tell you that somebody gets killed in Detroit practically on the daily basis and primarily there are black people on both sides - the killer and the victim(s). There are exceptions to this, but the number of black on black crime is sooo great and many times the very young kids are the victims. So, these lives are not worth any attention? Not a peep anywhere? The numbers here are thousands folds in comparison. Many times the killers remain on a loose and crime is repeated over and over.
While this latest incidence deserves the cruelest panishment so it will never EVER repeats, so are many others that are completely under the radar for one stupidiest reason - political correctness and it is a shame.
Please don’t start the black on black crime false equivalency. Yes there is black on black crime, about 90% of black murder victims was at the hands of another black person. Also 80% of white murders were whites on whites. So YES, most murders are intraracial. What’s going on in Detroit, Chicago and other places is sad. If you listened to black media it is discussed on a daily basis. Police are hired to protect and serve all members of society, not just some. We are tired of being thought of as less than. Heck we can’t even get dignity in death.
I don’t think so. In a way, it’s good that the video didn’t emerge right away. It didn’t come out until after the police officers had written up their false reports.
I saw Officer Slager’s mother being interviewed last night. I felt sorry for her. She seemed shell-shocked. But I wonder whether there is a PR effort being made. Why else would this woman feel compelled to go before the news cameras? I also saw a headline to the effect that he has hired a top attorney.
@tom1944 and @mathmom - The other officers who lied on their reports in order to back up Slager’s lies are being subjected to “scrutiny” according to this: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/other-officers-conduct-under-scrutiny-in-s-c-shooting/
IMO they should be fired at the very least. Falsifying a government document is a crime, right? They ought also to be arrested. Obstruction of justice? Accessories to murder?
Opinion writer Eugene Robinson, who is black, wrote a piece which begins: [“You thought, perhaps, that we were making this stuff up?”](http://www.fresnobee.com/2015/04/09/4469607_eugene-robinson-misdemeanor-becomes.html?rh=1) I will cop to white ignorance, at least before Ferguson. This kind of thing simply doesn’t exist in my white middle-class world. But the abuse cases which have come to light with depressing regularity over the last 8 months now make it impossible to disbelieve, unless one is willfully blind. Policing in America, at least for the black community, is rotten to the core. And prosecutors and courts are complicit in the rottenness. Quite obviously, in too many places this is standard procedure for white cops dealing with black subjects. And it is standard procedure for cops to cover for each other, and for prosecutors and judges to turn a blind eye. I don’t see how any white person of good faith can now deny that.
She’s doing what a lot of mothers do, making a case for her son. I see this all the time, it’s nothing notable. Rich, poor, powerful, powerless, mothers in this media connected world often go public with support for their kids. I usually discount anything a mother of an accused person says, because that’s the position they always take, guilty or not. At the same time that I pretty much consider their words irrelevant to the situation, I do have compassion for any mother who doesn’t want to believe their child could be a sociopath.
As to the attorney, of course he hired a top attorney. Wouldn’t you?
^^ The top attorney was mentioned on the news because it’s not clear who is paying for it. The PBA and the city have both denied it.
I was surprised by the dashcam video, and Slager’s polite and friendly manner, only a few minutes before he shot the man in the back. But then I realized that he was on his best behavior because he knew he was being recorded.
Slager’s first attorney, the one who said presciently, “I believe once the community hears all the facts of this shooting, they’ll have a better understanding of the circumstances surrounding this investigation," dropped Slager after the video came out. Perhaps he was angry that his client lied to him.